Medical Anthropology - Essay Example

1 Medical Anthropology Introduction The increasing interest on global health issues may have been fueled by the United Nation's Millennium Poll, besides the fact that it has been the primary concern of the majority of citizens. Globally, much efforts are exerted to improve health standards, whether or not individuals come from rich or poor countries. However, it is still obvious (Bloom & River Path Associates, 2000) that whichever regions of the world, health problems bring discontent to people coupled with perceived inequalities. Sen (1999) states, health depicts a complex challenges and consequences to national governments. As the richer countries enjoy better health than poorer ones; health improvements are not automatically delivered in the market does (Sen, 1999). Understandably, major turn overs in health status are structured according to the same foundations as that of the economic growth - up-to- date knowledge and technology, new labour requirements and new investment. However, (Bloom and River Path Associates, 2000), the process that enabled health to improve is on parallel direction and not the same as that of the economic development. Global Health Problem on Infectious Diseases Bloom and River Path Associates (2000) reported, there are around 30 new emerging diseases that exist in the past 20 years. To name some are the Hepatitis C, Ebola, the Hanta virus, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; and the most 2 threatening has been HIV/AIDS which has killed about 22 million people and left more than 36 million people as carriers of the said disease. United Nations (2000) revealed that in the late 1980s, HIV has spread in Asia as well as the Pacific. Prevalence of HIV/AIDS According to East Asia, UNAIDS and the Pacific there are around 640,000 people infected and have continued to live with HIV/AIDS. In fact, an adult prevalence rate has reached 0.07 per cent. In 2000, there were 18,000 deaths; while in 2000, 5.8 million people got infected with the virus. In the same year, nearly 470,000 people died. Moreover, 95 % of individuals infected with HIV are settled in developing countries, home to about 85 % of the world's population. This indicates that there is a solid and positive association between the absolute poverty rate and HIV globally, with a correlation that remain significant even if Africa. Across the globe there is an existing evidence that, as the epidemic advances, HIV/AIDS is increasingly focused in poor populations. In Asia and the rest of other continents, no statistical association has been established between poverty and AIDS, While wealthier individuals learn to shield themselves, the poor masses have less access to health care services and information, and are more likely to be forced by marginalisation and hardship as well as into making sub-optimal choices (World Bank, 3 1997) The disease therefore proves harder to tackle among poor people (Farmer, 1999). Health Reforms and Socio-Economic Developments One challenge to policy-makers, is not entirely focused on policy interventions which will discuss the impacts of AIDS, but also to see the opportunities plan, execute and implement action against AIDS. Examples of action plans are: intensification of campaigns which can make improvements towards broad and advantageous collateral impact; Protect people against various sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); Curricular reform directed at improving health education; Conduct programs which can lower the incidence of drug-resistant strains through common self-medication practice with antibiotics; and an overall building capacity to meet different cross-cutting problems on AIDS (World Bank, 1997). There are developing countries which are also focusing on poverty diminution as a key component of the total development thinking. A good deal of poverty reduction strategies are at present, considered the key to accessing an expanding proportion of multilateral as well as bilateral donor funding, together with the World Bank motivating countries to formulate strategies based on all-encompassing understanding of poverty. HIV/AIDS intelligibly has an impact on the views of poor people who were infected with the virulent virus and, needs to be provided with careful consideration in development programs or reduction strategy against poverty. Addressing Inequalities in Healthcare Health involves the political, societal and economic contexts which are the 4 basic structural determinants (Semenza & Maty, 2007). The inadequate access to opportunities and resources; which means, poverty could be a "carrier status" of disease. Dealing with infected people such as releasing them into a harmful environment is something fruitless and unethical. In 1998, of each 100 15-year-old young males in Iceland, around 91 could be expected to survive until they reach the age of 60 (on the basis of present levels of mortality). Although the underlying causes are much different, life expectancy of a Male at birth is the same as those in Russia and Ghana. This situation is similar among the group of Zambian boys. The diversity and scale of the mortality variation between countries has intrigued researchers for years. If one starts to understand the differences in all dimensions, maybe people can gain some insights about the causes of health inequalities within countries. Lee Jong- Wook, a former director general of World Health Organization once expressed that the "control of TB, HIV/ AIDS as well as malaria depend ultimately on social action according to a clear knowledge." (Lee, 2005; p 1005). The impact of cultural differences is one aspect of the several inequalities brought about by globalization; and greatly affected health among countries as well as the complex relationship between health and migration and health (Leon, 2001). Many people in developing nation are dying because of the shortages of essential drugs Yudkin JS. (1999); while in industrialised countries there are differences in the health care quality in which populations are now on a visible impact on disease outcomes (Schwartz & Carpenter, 1999). 5 The wide inequalities in health across the countries pose substantial challenges to epidemiologists and other health care providers. New approaches are necessary that can take account of the difficulties involved. Indeed, this will include a combined efforts among demographers, political scientists, basic medical scientists, epidemiologists, and others. Conclusions From the various viewpoints on emerging of diseases and health inequalities, stakeholders can draw insights that on the process of overcoming existing health inequalities. Policy making bodies should address the issue at certain level of the important public health functions. Set forth on efforts which could help decrease social stratification. Decreasing people's vulnerability of being disadvantaged; Reducing exposure to threats and harmful factors; and Increasing access on health care to avoid adverse illness consequences. Good health is the key to every country's development and it has a vital role in improving the lives of people; particularly, of the poor. The problem on AIDS has been long overdue. It is one issue that must be treated as just one of the much health predicament, rather than in isolation. A broad action at diverse levels of societies is very important in order to ensure that the general health standards continuously improve. Some relevant principles must be accounted for in responding to HIV/AIDS issues like: Accounting good governance for better health care outcomes; and must 6 go hand in hand with peace and stability. No single approach is best and would fit to all societies; the approach should be multi-sectoral in nature that would require judgments without competing claims. Building of broad partnerships with many institutions as much as possible in both local and international community is significant to increase health care awareness. Without action, the quantity of poor masses with unsatisfactory health status will increase, then later will hamper development efforts. Well-targeted, well-planned and innovative policies may create an indirect impact on the society's health as a whole. References Bloom, D. E. & River Path Associates, 2000. Social Capitalism & Human Diversity, published in OECD (2000), The Creative Society of the 21st Century. Castles S. (1999) International migration and the global agenda: reflections on the 1998 UN technical symposium. International Migration Review 1999; 37: 3-17. George, A. Alleyne, O. and Daniel Cohen (2002) Health, Economic Growth, and Poverty Reduction, Working Group 1, World Health Organisation, Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, Geneva, p 6-110. International Epidemiological Association (2001) Development as freedom, International Journal of Epidemiology 30:907-908. Lee, J.W. (2005) Public health is a social issue. Lancet. 365:1005-1006. 7 Leon, D.A. (2001) Common threads: underlying components of inequalities in mortality between and within countries. In Leon D, Walt G (editors). Poverty, inequality and health. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001; 58-87. McKee M, Garner P, Stott R. (2001) International co-operation and health. Oxford: Oxford University Press. McKee M. (1999) For debate-does health care save lives Croatian Med J 1999; 40: 123-8. Paul, F. (1999): Infections and inequalities. University of California Press. Schwartz S, Carpenter KM. (1999) The right answer for the wrong question: consequences of type III error for public health research. Am J Public Health 1999; 89: 1175-1180. Semenza J.C. & Maty, S. (2007) Acting upon the macrosocial environment to improve health: a framework for intervention. In:Galea S, ed. Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health. New York, NY: Springer Media Publishing; 443-461. Sen, A. New York: Knopf, 1999, pp.366, US$15.00. ISBN: 0-19-829-758. The World Bank has estimated that 'about one of four TB deaths among HIV-negative people would not have occurred in the absence of the HIV epidemic,' and UNAIDS has attributed one third of the increase in TB cases over the last five years to HIV. UNAIDS (2000): Epidemiological Fact Sheets by Country. Retrieved September 30, 2009 from http://www.unaids.org/hivaidsinfo/statistics/june00/fact_sheets/index.html World Bank (1997): Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global Epidemic, A World Bank Policy Research Report, Oxford University Press. World Bank (1997): Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global Epidemic, A World Bank Policy Research Report, Oxford University Press, 1997. Chapter 4. pp. 173-233. Yudkin JS. (1999) Insulin for the world's poorest countries. Lancet 2000; 355: 919-21. Read More